Mourning a Snow Angel
by Seizure-On-Demand
Summary: "Ralph shivered, but not from the cold. He hadn't spoken Meera's name in over a decade, and he felt like he had somehow awakened the dead." Based off a Tumblr plot bunny. One-sided Ralph/OC.


This is based off a plot bunny I posted under the name _guiltyhipster_ on Tumblr (come check out my blog if you feel like it). **Nekonohime **wrote her own version of it called "To Love A Bad Guy" which you should definitely check out. This story is by no means related to my other work-in-progress "Through Her Eyes." It's just a plot bunny that I absolutely _had_ to indulge in.

**Disclaimer: **_Wreck-It Ralph_ isn't mine. Nope.

* * *

**Mourning a Snow Angel, A Prelude: **

* * *

In his lifetime Ralph had seen many games come and go from Litwak's Arcade. They stayed for as long as they were popular, and then they were wheeled away to no one knew where. Some were sorely missed by the current inhabitants of the arcade, while others were simply forgotten about, having vanished without leaving a mark on anyone. Ralph himself had lost count of how many games Litwak's had gained and lost, and he'd hadn't shed tears for any of them…except one.

It was a game that Ralph still thought about every once in a while, a game that had been unplugged twelve years ago. Though he'd done his best to let go of the memory of it, it still kept crawling back like poisonous insect to remind him of yet another thing that would never be his. The game been called _Ice Siege_, and while its staunchly medieval-fantasy plot and setting had left no great impression on him, its infamous heroine had.

He revealed her existence to Vanellope by accident, on one of the many nights he slept over in _Sugar Rush_ at Vanellope's request, because the child rested better knowing that he was nearby. Ralph himself had fallen asleep quickly, and when he awoke before dawn Vanellope was sitting cross-legged on his chest with a confused and curious expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" he asked sleepily, gently brushing some loose strands of hair from her eyes with his finger.

"You tell _me_," Vanellope replied. "Who's Meera?"

It turned out that he'd been saying her name repeatedly in his sleep, and that his young friend had heard everything. Vanellope had left the balcony doors open to bring some fresh air into her humid and stale bedchambers, and an icy breeze from the Sundae Mountains drifted in, carrying with it a few meager snowflakes. Ralph shivered, but not from the cold. He hadn't spoken Meera's name in over a decade, and he felt like he had somehow awakened the dead.

"She's no one," Ralph answered quickly, gently plucking the little girl off his chest and placing her onto the pillow next to him. "Go back to sleep."

But he'd forgotten how persistent Vanellope was, and after a long, tiring hour of prodding and pleading from her, Ralph finally surrendered.

"She was someone I knew a long time ago," Ralph sighed. "Well, I knew _her._ She didn't know me. I don't think she even knew what my name was."

"What game is she from?"

"_Ice Siege._ It's not around anymore," Ralph said, hoping that the conversation would end there. He turned his head so that Vanellope wouldn't see the gloom on his face. She countered this by climbing onto his chest again and sliding down to where the direction of his gaze was, forcing him to look her in the eye.

"You loved her, didn't you?" It was hardly a question, because from the sound of her tone Vanellope already knew the answer.

A single tear rolled down Ralph's cheek, and he clenched his eyes shut to prevent more from escaping. "It was twelve years ago," he told her sharply. "What difference does it make? I...I don't even remember what she looked like!"

But that was a lie. Ralph remembered_ exactly_ what Meera looked like. An ice cream snowflake blew into the room and melted on his cheek like a sad, light kiss. It made him open his eyes again. "It's freezing in here," he mumbled irritably under his breath, swiping both the tear and the melted snowflake off his cheek with his thumb. All of _Ice Siege_ had been much colder, but the temperature in the room was enough to make him remember what he'd much rather forget. "The arcade's going to open in a few hours. Close the window and let's go back to sleep."

"Ralph!" Vanellope whined insistently. "You promised that we'd never keep secrets from each other! You _promised! _Tell me what happened to her!"

Ralph gave an exasperated sigh. "It's not much of a bedtime story, kid," he said quietly, almost in a whisper. "There's no happy ending. Not for me, and definitely not for her. She didn't deserve what happened to her. She was young, and _beautiful_, and...good. But she made the mistake of loving a Bad Guy and she suffered for it."

Vanellope's saucer eyes grew wide. "But you said...you _said_ she didn't even know your name!"

Ralph shook his head. "It wasn't me," he explained as his heart hurt with the resurrected pain of not having been Meera's loved one. "She loved the villain in her own game. She fought him every day, and got defeated by him a lot during game-play. He was her Bad Guy and she loved him anyways. And that's why..." Ralph swallowed a lump in his throat and shook his head. "That's why I loved _her_."

* * *

**End of Prelude**

* * *

I hope to have the second and last part up soon. Please review!


End file.
